OMJASVIN M D By Express News Service CHENNAI: The scare over COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in pharmacies insisting that customers produce prescriptions, even to buy paracetamol tablets. Purasawalkam resident G Palanivel says he was turned away by a pharmacist in his area when he went to buy Dolo for ‘mild fever’. He was asked to come back with a doctor’s prescription. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had announced that persons with symptoms of flu and fever must visit doctors and not indulge in self-medication. However, no government instruction has been given to pharmacies to stop selling Over The Counter drugs. Tiruvottiyur resident Sooriya Prakash says a popular private hospital refused to treat his father, who had flu-like symptoms. “We took him there for his cold. But, they refused to look at him. They asked us to go to the GH. Pharmacies did not give us any medicines either,” he said. “Most small clinics and private practitioners are closed now. So even for a small cold, we have to go to a private hospital.” R Muthupandian, a radiologist with the Government hospital, who also runs a small clinic in the evenings as a general practitioner, said ever since the COVID19 curfew came into force, he has not been operating his clinic. “The workload in the Government hospitals is more now and if we open clinics, easily, 50 to 100 people come, and that itself becomes a place of social gathering. Thus, many doctors are avoiding it now,’’ he said. Senior Consultant with Kauvery Hospitals, Dr Sivaramkannan says symptoms such as common cold and cough are the same for COVID-19. “We can only differentiate the symptoms using throat swabs and by testing nasal secretion. Thus it is advisable to get prescriptions.”

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